viavoice

Jodi and Allison at an Urban Tapestry practice.

I went by our old place last week to pick up mail. It felt very strange, standing in the lobby as a visitor, not a resident. The concierge told me that the new owner had already started major renovations, ripping down walls.

Hard not to feel a pang, and I silently reminded myself that the place belonged to someone else now. I was filled with curiosity as well, wondering what the new place would look like. Would they open up the living room even more? Take out the wall between Jeff's and my offices? Perhaps put in another bathroom?

I found myself wishing that I had left behind some secret mark, perhaps some scribbled initials in a shadowy corner of a closet that no one would notice, fading over time. Jeff and I would eventually move back into the building years from now, disillusioned by the whole house thing (Jeff will hate shovelling snow, and I will have developed an unreasonable fear of gardening) and craving condo living again. By lucky chance, our old unit would be up for sale.

"Look!" I'd cry happily to Jeff as we drifted from room to room, re-acquainting ourselves with our old home. "My initials are still here! We never left after all, really."

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Impending UT concert DVD? Click image for details.

So I'm writing this with Viavoice. Last week after my uncle's funeral, I slipped on some ice and (of course) fell on my bad arm. Didn't sprain any elbows this time, but my arm still isn't happy. Trying very hard not to let this get me down. I'm hoping it recovers quickly so that I'm able to play flute during our gig in Boston later this week. Allison, Jodi and I are getting together in Newmarket today for an Urban Tapestry practice in prep for Boskone.

Many thanks to those who posted suggestions about where I could find online recipe information. Here are just a few:

Epicurious.com. This site claims to have the world's greatest recipe collection. I love the recipe search interface, which lets you look for recipes with certain ingredients, special considerations like a low-fat or kid friendly focus, specific types of courses, cuisines, occasions, preparation methods and sources. Readers can also post their reviews and ratings. I've already made one recipe which turned out very well ("fantastic," Jeff reports :-)).

Egullet.com. Information is posted in a message board format, where users can ask questions and offer advice under particular categories. The recipe section is only one small part of the site, which covers culinary topics in general.

Canadian Living. This is the Web site of the print magazine, whose tagline is "Smart solutions for everyday living." The publication also hosts a cooking show on Canada's FoodTV network. The site contains archives of recipes in the television show as well as from the magazine. The recipe section is searchable by general category, food group, and keyword.

Like Canadian Living, Cook's Illustrated is and online version of its print counterpart, with considerable editorial content not having to do with specific recipes. The recipe search interface allows you to look for recipes by course, ingredient and category. The site also links up with America's Test Kitchen, which appears to be a television show backed by the magazine. LOVE the explanation of science behind various cooking techniques as well as the lack of advertising. You have to pay a fee to access most of the content. I've signed up for a year.

Recipezaar: Browsable by category from the main page, Or you can use the advanced recipe search interface Which includes key words, course, cuisine, main ingredient, preparation method, special diet, time prep, and nutritional factors. One thing I like about this site that the others seem not to have is the nutritional information provided along with every recipe.

VegWeb: Vegetarian recipes. Limited search interface, but you can browse recipes by category or alphabetically.

And of course I can't forget about my friend Andy's culinary resource suggestion. :-)

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